


Flippers and Feathers

by sakuravixen



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: AU, Avian Hunk, Avian Lance - Freeform, Avian Pidge, Avian Shiro, Birds, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Gen, Myth AU, Mythical Beings & Creatures, Mythological Creature AU, Reader-Insert, Seals (Animals), Selkie - Freeform, Supernatural AU - Freeform, avian - Freeform, avian keith, seal skin, selkie reader
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-17
Updated: 2019-01-12
Packaged: 2019-09-21 02:02:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17034344
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sakuravixen/pseuds/sakuravixen
Summary: [mythical creatures!au | selkie! reader][Name] never truly knew freedom. It was only when her mother told her of how she could escape the 'home' [Name] had known all her life when it changed. And for the first time, she felt the water flowing around her.And disaster struck, leaving [Name] alone and finding herself in the company of five confused avians.





	1. one

**Author's Note:**

> I shouldn't start something new, but here we are :')
> 
> reading through fanfics and looking through art does wonders for your motivation and fanfic ideas bank

All your life, all you knew was the house. The house in which you grew up in. The house in which you never left without your father right by your side. Your mother was no different. The house was a cage and you and your mother were the birds only allowed out when the master - your father - was watching. It was something you simply got used to. You never questioned your father.

At least, not to his face.

Your mother would tell you stories, stories how the sea and everything beneath it. She told you about the fish, about the coral and about all the other creatures that resided in the vast ocean. It was something you grew to admire. It was the freedom you never had.

It was also the freedom your mother was taken away from.

 

She told you not just about the sea, but about  _the seals_. She told you how she once was a seal and how she had a happy family, a herd she hung out with and was family with.

She told you about the warnings her herd would give about humans, about how selkies - you and her - were said to be so beautiful on land that many humans simply fell in love at the sight. And they told her not to wander out on land whenever it was day.

She told you about how she did just that one day and  _met your father_.

She told you about how your father wooed her and courted her and how she gradually fell in love.

She told you about how your father soon stole her sealskin so that she was unable to return to the sea.

And  _she told you about how he also took yours from the very moment you were born, trapping you in your human form._

You would watch as she told you her stories, stories that you did and didn't want to experience, tears slowly starting to form in the corners of her eye and watched as they slowly trickled down her cheeks.

 

You never liked your father. Not especially after everything your mother told you. He seemed like a kind a gentle man to many. You thought so too when you were younger. Then you realised that it was all a lie, all a ruse just so he wanted you to trust him. You knew he had taken away your sealskin, letting you stay in the human form you soon became accustomed to. He never let you or your mother out of his sight, too afraid to lose you two. You didn't know whether it was love or some other twisted emotion he felt for the two of you.

Every so often, you would wonder about your sealskin. Where had your father hidden it? Could you possibly ever find it? You weren't optimistic. You were ready for a life of simply being human, never tapping into the other side of your heritage. 

 

So when your mother told you one day with a half smile that she knew where your sealskins lay hidden, your emotions were conflicted. It seemed too good to be true, to return where you had came from? Back to the sea? The one place you always wanted to go to? But you listened to her, eager to run away from the cage you had been stuck in for your entire life. And she told you of the secret hiding place she suspected your sealskins were hidden.

 

~~~

 But you didn't expect your mother to disappear. Your mother - the sole person you could confide in - missing. You didn't know what to feel. Guilt and grief tore inside you and for a week or so, you were simply stunned. You locked yourself in your room, too grief-stricken to properly interact with your father. He told you kindly and gently, that she had simply disappeared.

You knew better.

She must have gone. 

She must have escaped from the house first, to set an example for you to go join her as well.

And you knew you were definitely going to take that opportunity. 

 

So the very night you made your decision, you broke into the hidden closet you previously believed closed and you saw it.

_Your sealskin._

If you hadn't known, you would have believed it to be spare fabric, for any case where something happened.

But now you knew better. The shimmering fur laid in front of you was  _yours._ You were born with it and you were separated from it at a young age. Picking it up, you noticed it felt like leather, yet it was soft and comforting.

 

Taking the chance, you ran that night and headed towards the sea.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> short, but just a bit of insight before you meet everyone else


	2. two

You didn't jump in straight away. Holding your sealskin in your arms, you stood at the water shore, just watching the sea. It was calm that night, but you were still worried.

What were you to do?

Were you supposed to chant some sort of song to don your sealskin then go in? 

Were you supposed to literally put it on like clothing?

Years of not knowing much about your unhumane lineage did not go well for this moment. You didn't know how long you stood there, watching the water as it gently lapped at your bare feet. The liquid was cold, but it was refreshing, tempting you to simply walk in.

And so that was what you did.

 

With your sealskin wrapped in your hands and clothes still on, you stepped forwards. Nothing happened. 

You took another step forwards. By now you were ankle deep and you could _really_  feel the water swirling around your feet. It was calling out for you, still tempting you to enter.

Then you started to run into deeper waters. Your steps turned from jogs to runs as you made your way in.

Then once you were waist deep, you lost all sense of the air and just became to _feel the water_.

The water didn't slow your running down.

It seemed to push you further in.

By that time, you refused to simply _stay human_.

You dived in.

 

The sealskin combined with you, slipping over you and changing your shape into a seal.

The freedom that it gave was instantaneous. As you swam, you could dart throught the water as if you were simply floating by it. The water didn't work against you, it worked with you. With a few flaps of the flippers, you could send yourself zooming forwards and with a quick twist, you could turn into pretty much any direction you liked.

You spent a while zooming around in the water and playing with your new-found freedom.

The cage that once kept you in was gone and all that was left was an unquenchable thirst to just _swim._

 

~~~

 

The feeling didn't last long. The further you swam from the shore, the more obvious the dangers of the sea became. Below, you could _feel_  the darkness that lay below you.

To say the least, terror clawed at your stomach. You didn't know what was beneath you. Sharks? You had heard of sharks. You had heard of how they constantly preyed on actual seals and selkies alike, how they were fierce hunters, their sense of smell being their main tracker.

And their teeth as their weapons.

You definitely didn't want to risk death so soon after running away.

 

So you kept on swimming, swimming out away from the human civillisation you had known for so long.

Where were you going?

You didn't know for sure. You would swim until you couldn't swim any longer, that was for sure. But then, you were new in this area and you didn't doubt for a moment that a predator would take advantage of a young and lonely seal.

 

You could see dark shadows flitting all about beneath you, most of them scuttling away as your shadow loomed over them. Fish, lots of fish, all of them scared by the sudden appearance of a predator, a seal, you.

You hadn't ever hunted before. It had been described quite easily in books you read when you were younger, but you knew the viscious cycle of predator and prey would be a hard one to go about. Regardless, after feeling your stomach growl quite a bit, you twisted yourself to swim deeper and head towards the seabed.

From above, you could see the fish swimming about. However, once you made a move to swim down, they all quickly swam away, wary of your presence. There were a few slower fish that you tried to make a move on, but they all managed to slip out of your jaws.

 

It took a more than a few tries, but at last, you did manage to snap _just one fish_  into your mouth. It wasn't much, nor did it properly soothe your hunger, but it was something.

Considering that this was probably your life until you found other beings capable of communication with you.

Like a seal.

You hadn't figured it out yet, but meeting another seal (or selkie, if you were lucky) would be a great help in your new journey.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow, sorry for my inconsistent writing style!
> 
> and it's painful writing in second person for such a long time ajsjdjshs
> 
> I'll switch to a third person point of view next chapter because I'm more accustomed to writing it


	3. three

As night fell and as [Name] swam out further, the true danger of the unknown struck her.

The sea wasn't calm anymore. The sky had turned dark. Dangerously dark.

And it seemed like nature itself had turned onto the poor selkie.

The water frothed and spun, whipping about, waves crashing all over, throwing her off-course many, many times. As the water spun her around, [Name] got confused, unsure of which way the shore was and which way she had previously been swimming.

But there was barely any time for her to get her bearings back. Each time the water stopped churning for even a second, she was thrown all about once again, world spinning around her.

It was, in short, not fun at all.

 

[Name] wasn't sure how long she desperately tried to swim against the moving water. All her energy was spent into wriggling her flippers and tail and hoping that she moved in some sort of direction.

Her panic was getting obvious.

She couldn't survive _that_  long without a proper source of food and [Name] had no idea where she was.

It also didn't help that she had rushed in without a plan.

Originally, she would've thought it was simply 'find the pod her mother grew up in,' but now that she was aware how large the ocean was, it seemed like it would be attempting to find a needle in a haystack.

Almost impossible and definitely not something she was too willing to undertake so soon.

 

~~~

 

A lone seal swimming by themself out in the ocean was easy prey. Especially if the seal was barely an adult, just a young pup.

Just like [Name].

 

Easy prey, extremely easy prey for sharks. If one was lucky, they would spot the small shadow above them against the darkening colours of the grey sky. They would see that it was moving, distinctively like a seal. The shark would be suspicious, of course. A seal pup right out in the open, right there to fall into its jaws? It seemed too good to be true for that lucky shark.

But then, they would realise that _it was true_  and that the pup was alone, without any help.

That shark would not _hesitate_ to strike.

 

For [Name], it was close, way too close for comfort.

She nearly missed the shark, but it was only when she saw the large, dark mass moving beneath her, that was when she realised.

_A shark. And it seemed intent to get her._

Still battling the swirling waves, [Name] quickly twisted herself around and swam as _fast as she possibly could_. Panic truly caught her and all she knew was that she had to escape.

She didn't doubt for a moment that it could possibly smell her fear.

 

It followed after [Name] with an almost casual pace, as if it were taunting her, telling her than escape would be futile. 

She didn't stop to think. All she knew was the get to land, where the shark would physically be incapable of following her.

It swam faster.

She swam faster.

The rocking waves did little to help, throwing [Name] off course many times and slowing her escape down. The shark still did nothing. It was slightly strange, but the young seal pup was simply intent and surviving the chase.

 

Then disaster struck. The shark swam _just a bit faster_  and [Name] swore she could've felt the snapping jaws at her tail. She could hear heart pounding. Hard. 

She could hear the water rushing around her.

The shark could've easily gotten to her by now.

Was it playing around? Assuming that just because she was small, it didn't need to exert that much effort in the hunt?

With a strong stroke of the tail, [Name] launched herself up towards the surface of the water. It was dangerous, but she needed oxygen. 

Her lungs felt like they were burning and if she wasn't going to die by a shark, then she was going to drown.

 

With a final kick, she launched out, took few deep breathes, then dived back in to continue away. By then, the shark was close, too close.

It was right behind her.

_And it opened its mouth._

Time seemed to slow down.

She could see the teeth around her. All of them were like knifes, each of them sharp enough to cut her into pieces. If there was light, they would've all been gleaming.

[Name] didn't think. She moved.

Tails and fins flapping she pushed herself out and to the sides.

The shark's mouth snapped closed, nicking the seal's tail. She gritted through the stinging pain and moved her flippers and tail as fast as she could away from the shark.

 

It wasn't too long when she realised that there was no longer movement behind her. Cautiously, [Name] turned herself around. What she saw sent shivers up her spine and the water around her suddenly felt strangely still.

There the shark was. Unmoving. Cold. Lifeless. _Dead_. The sight caused terror to claw at the seal's stomach. The shark was drifting in the water.

Moving in closer, [Name] could _see_  blood in the air. It was all around the shark. Not her blood, but the shark's. All over its body, the shark had multiple gashes, most of the small and shallow. Yet the quantity of them must have been the cause for all the blood in the water.

The smell was pungent and the young selkie refused to move any closer to the shark. The gashes were all over its body. Blood leaked out from each of them. It seemed that each was carefully placed, hit to draw the most blood from the shark.

Then [Name] realised. The shark had been killed, murdered.

And whatever had taken its life was probably still around.

It may had possibly saved her life, but [Name] was still worried. What if it was out for her?

 

Right before she could make a move, the seal felt a sharp pain across the back of her skull.

Extremely dazed, her eyes snapped shut in pain. She heard voices, all of them awfully close to her.

Then there was another hit.

Then shouting.

Then nothing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was going to introduce the avians in this chapter, but I decided against it x.x 
> 
> the end scene probably won't be explained properly until later, sorry!


	4. four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A few things to note before, but the flock (aka the paladins) are all avians (as mentioned in the tags & summary). Which means they all have bird wings and slightly bird-like senses. They reside in this far-out island and don't have too much interaction with humans. But they do wear human clothing with slits cut out in the back for the wings. Them in a group and the way they interact as avians is kind of based off the book series Maximum Ride (although not intentionally).

To Lance, everyday was the same. Wake up, annoy everyone else (mainly Keith), readjust his feathers from all the rolling around he may had done while sleeping and then go out to one of the places in the island to find food. It was dull, but it was something that he was well adjusted to. And besides, his fellow flock members (he liked to call their group a flock, "made them sound cool," he said) all made their days much more interesting.

The group met _so_  long ago. Lance couldn't quite remember when, but all he knew was that it was the best day of his life. He hadn't gotten to ask anything about the others and their past, but he knew that each of them were not human. Avians, they called themselves. Humans with bird wings and bird senses. The wings didn't bode well for humans, which meant that all of them weren't too thrilled about the general idea of humans.

Yet, they had all somehow found each other and banded together like a pack of wolves (but birds). Shiro, Keith, Hunk, Pidge and himself. All five of them met and realised the differences they had with humans. They all chose to effectively abandon the rest of humankind and flew out to the island, this island, their home.

 

That day was no different. He woke up last out of the group once again and for her size, being kicked awake by Pidge was no joke. Her kicks were _hard_. Once again in the morning, he woke up with sore sides and both messy feathers and hair. If there was a disadvantage with being a literal bird hybrid, Lance would have to go with the fact that sleeping on one's back was out. And the fact that wings had a tendecy to flop around everywhere when you're not noticing (don't ever stand behind Shiro with his wings out).

 

The day started out normal. There was no sign of anyone having accidentally pushed another out of the cave they all resided in (don't ask) nor was there the smell of some dead animal. Lance was partly grateful for that. Sometimes, some things meant work and some things didn't.

The morning was normal. The boy decided to head down to the beach in hopes of finding something that had washed up from the previous night's storm. He asked Hunk, being the only one who seemed likely to be willing to go with him, to join him in his adventure. Being a nice friend, Hunk agreed (although hesitantly).

 

The two avians went the slower way down to the beach. The wet and soggy conditions from the nighht before meant that flying was dangerous, especially when it came to soggy feathers and low visibility. And besides, the beach wasn't a far walk down. Walking also meant that it was easier for conversation to strike up.

"What are you looking for this time?"

Lance rubbed the bottom of his chin, going over his decisions. Then as a thought struck him, he grinned. "Maybe some treasure from a washed up pirate ship!"

Hunk shivered, not liking the sound of that. "Okay dude, explain to me _why_  we're doing this again?"

"You just agreed. And you're a nice friend." 

"Right, but when since was pirate ships involved? I thought you were looking for _seashells_!" Lance sent a smirk at Hunk's way and didn't reply. 

Both continued to walk down to the beach, continuing to chatter about other less serious matters.

 

Once at the beach was in sight, Lance's eyes lit up and he started to sprint towards the sandy terrain. Hunk, a little less excited, decided to linger behind the boy, not changing his pace.

Lance wasted no time in rushing towards the edge of the beach. Seaweed was littered all over, washed in from the strong tides of the day before. There were a few miscellaneous pieces of _something_  that were also laying about. However, apart from that, the beach didn't look too different from a normal beach. No shipwreck, no signs of anything different. Lance didn't pay any of those items any mind, head tilted down to search for shells that were visible.

Hunk strayed behind him, hands in his pockets and wings unfurled to dry them off. Lance was bent down, examining the various sorts of treasures he wished to find underneath his feet. Hunk watched over Lance's shoulder as he dug through sand, searching for anything that would catch his eye.

Only after about a few minutes of Lance going along the shoreline and Hunk following, they started to converse. "Aw, I was really hoping for some sort of ship to show up around here..."

Hunk shook his head from side to side rapidly, shutting down Lance's idle thoughts. "Nope, nope, nope. We don't need to meet pirates or anyone for that matter because we're not exactly _going_  to be welcomed warmly."

Lance pretended not to have heard Hunk's valid point. "Imagine all the ladies!" He threw his arms up in the air and jumped up.

Hunk sighed and rubbed his forehead. He knew that it was normal for him to be thinking of things that weren't the best for them and the flock, but it was only normal. Living with only four others for a very long time tended to put thoughts that involved meeting or seeing other humans into one's head. Even Hunk himself wished that they didn't have to reside on the lonely island.

But it was the best for all five of them. Away from prying human eyes, they weren't judged here. Or hunted, but that was rare when they were in human company.

Lost in his thoughts, Hunk didn't notice Lance's shouting. He was pointing somewhere, a little further away. "Hey, do you see that?" Squinting, they could see that it was something large in comparison to the other things. _And it seemed to be moving._

"Um, Lance..." Hunk's voice trailed off. He was unsure of it. What was it? Some sort of creature? Before Hunk could continue on with his faded warning, Lance had already started to run towards it. "Hey, Lance, wait for me!" Hunk let out a small yelp and started to follow after.

 

When Hunk caught up, Lance had stopped and was standing there, looking at the thing. His body was blocking Hunk's view of the thing. Puffing and slighty out of breath, Hunk raised an eyebrow. He moved to Lance's side. "Dude, what was-" then he saw, " _oh_."

Lance's face was filled with horror and shock. Hunk's face gradually morphed to match his as both boys looked down at what they had spotted before. At their feet wasn't an _it_ , the _it_  was a seal, a young pup, laying on the beach shore near the water.

It was bloodied, the dark crimson staining the fur and the sand the seal lay on. There were still a little bit of fresh blood leaking from invisible injuries. The water lapped gently at its tail fins, only cleaning it a little bit of the blood. 

It was clear that it hadn't been there for that long. Its eyes were closed, unconscious. Small quick breaths rasped from its throat as it breathed. It was injured and possibly dying.

 

Both avians were stunned for a moment. Then Hunk moved, bending down. His hands touched the seal gingerly at first, then once he realised that it probably wouldn't be waking up any time soon, he started to bundle it up to carry it in his arms.

"Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh nooo..." he was muttering as he did so. 

"What happened to it?" Lance frowned, clearly rattled by the sight. He took of his jumper and passed it to Hunk, who wrapped the seal pup up in the soft fabric.

"Not sure."

"Seals don't frequent these areas, do they?" Hunk shook his head at Lance's question.

"Come on, we have to get back and tell the others."

Both boys unfurled their wings and with a few quick beats, they took off. Hunk held the seal (and Lance's jumper) in his arms, making sure it wouldn't fall. The two of them would have a bit of explaining to do when coming back to their small cave.


End file.
